nbc bay area news starts now. >> one body still west bound through the become yard. >> you're watching the end of a two-month crime spree, video as police in the south bay hunt down a pair of suspects. good evening. i'm jessica aguirre. >> and i'm raj mathai. two men, two months and 20 stores. tonight, we're seeing how officers put a stop to the spree

in san jose. chase, this crime spree even had a nickname, didn't it? >> reporter: it did. the detectived dubbed these two guys the can't stop, won't stop bandits because of the frequency of their crimes. that may sound a little funny, because that is reference to a miley cyrus song, but police say what these two did is no laughing matter. a masked man rushes in and fires a warning shot into the ceiling. surveillance cameras caught just one of the 20 armed robberies that detectives say these two committed. they are now behind bars, each facing a laundry list of charges. that came as a relief to this man, who believes his liquor store was the last place those two allegedly robbed before getting caught. >> well, the guys, he had like a mask on.

so i can only see like eye. and then he said, give me the money. >> reporter: then they took off. >> it's a dead end. >> reporter: but a san jose officer had spotted the robbers leaving and called santa clara's chopper to track the pair. >> one body west bound through the backyard. we just went over the fence. >> reporter: but the chase only lasted minutes. >> two officers on him. >> reporter: before officers bet beltran and rodriguez in handcuffs and away from store owners. >> it's good for everybody, for the neighborhood, for us, for lancaster. >> reporter: detectives say part of what helped them pin so many crimes on these two guys is the fact that there were certain behaviors repeated time and time again throughout these robberies but detectives would not say anymore than that, because they believed there could be more people out there responsible for part of these crimes. so if you know anything about

that, police want you to give them a call. chase cane, nbc bay area news. >> thank you, chase. police arrested three men in connection to robberies at a bingo hall. police say these men held up a worker at gun point and got away with thousands. the same men are accused of pistol whipping a 78-year-old woman in the parking lot just a few weeks ago. new at 11:00, a bay area case that got national attention is inspiring new anti-bullying legislation. state senator jim beale will unveil audrey's law tomorrow. audrey pott killed herself in 2010 after details of a sexual assault were made public. deal involving one of the bay area's biggest employers.

safeway has been sold to the parent company of rival albertson's. that would give the new chain 2400 stores across the country, rivalling that of kroger. cheryl? >> reporter: there's a lot of competition when it comes to grocery store shopping in the bay area. i am live here in front of this brand new safeway store. but if you take a few steps away, there's a trader joe's. analysts say that a merger between safeway and albertson's just had to happen. >> definitely the prices will probably go up, i'm sure of that. most mergers, that's usually the case. >> reporter: that's what one shopper had to say tonight about the merger involving safeway and albertson's. business professor mitchell marks agrees. >> i think we'll probably close

some stores. they are going to have to cut costs. they're spending $8 billion on this acquisition, so they'll have to get some of that back. >> reporter: how? consumer watch dog groups believe both companies may lay off employees. >> you have stores like trader joe's, who has only one kind of olive oil. safeway, they have a lot of choices. >> reporter: the ceos of safeway and albertson's put out a joint statement stating they are happy about the purchase and consumers may benefit by the move. safeway's president and ceo said in part that safeway has been focused on better meeting shopper's diverse needs. but shoppers we talked to tonight have mixed emotions about the merger. >> i don't know what that means

for the prices. i kind of see them going down a little bit. >> the sky's the limit when you take two big companies like that and bring them together. who knows? >> reporter: the companies say that no stores will close because of this transaction. experts say just wait and see. reporting live, i'm cheryl hurd, nbc bay area news. >> thank you, cheryl. on the same day as that big sale, safeway agreed to settle a multimillion dollar lawsuit. the lawsuit alleges the grocer involved in false advertising and unfair competition by not charging customers the lowest advertised price and implying produce was locally grown when it wasn't. we're learning more about the arrest of an east bay teacher accused of sexually abusing six students and we're learning how he got hired while under investigation. he worked in richmond, but back

in november he was let go from making waves academy. school board leaders insist he did undergo a background check, but because he was not charged, the accusations didn't show up. and his references weren't called because he had previously taught in that same district. the fbi revealing today that new dna evidence links an old murder case in reno with victims from here in the bay area. six young women were killed between january and april of 1976. five of those women along the me ninls la, and the sixth in reno. agents say they created a task force that will go door to door in hopes of discovering new leads. the fed's aren't saying what the new evidence is, only it connects the cases. the youngest victim was just 14 years old, the oldest 26. the men who pleaded guilty in the bryan stow beating case are facing new charges.

they were charged with being a felon in possession of firearms. if convicted, each man could get up to 10 more years added to their sentence in the stow case. both admitted assaulting the giants fan at dodger stadium in 2011. stow is now permanently disabled. san francisco has become notorious for pedestrian accidents. just 6% of san francisco streets account for 60% of pedestrian accidents. today, the walk first project announced it's working to address those problem areas. they stay they'll start with easy fixes like installing speed bumps and taking away left hand turns. in the long-term, they plan to install radar speed displays, waning signs and flashing beacons. police have stepped up traffic enforcement in that area. a chance of patchy fog for

your commute tomorrow morning. we have some warming ahead and rain in the forecast. a look at that coming up. also, who started it? the big mystery that erupted into a media circus today. why were you tax dollars used to subsidize costs for google founders? how about this, they weren't expecting to see him, the heartwarming reaction as a bay area soldier comes home and surprises his family.

a tribute tonight to a hometown hero who fought two battles. one very public, one very private. mark bingham's story is featured in one of the movies tonight at the film festival. george kiriyama joins us from san jose with the tribute and reactions from the family. >> reporter: many people heard about mark bingham's 9/11 story. tonight's film, it showed the person behind the hometown hero. >> this documents and helps make sense out of my life and it helps the world to know what a special guy my son was. i always thought he was my hero. >> reporter: if you had to describe the documentary "the rugby player" in one word, it's courage. mark bingham's story is about a rugby player who fought terrorism on 9/11. and a man who found himself and his sexual orientation -- >> when someone decides to make the choice to come out openly as

gay and live honestly, when they're met with acceptance and love instead of intolerance and hatred, they can grow up to be amazing individuals and in mark's case, they can grow up to be heroes. >> reporter: the majority of the film was shot by mark bingham himself, video clips documents his life from high school to just a few weeks before 9/11. the movie touches on the moments he and three other brave men came up with the plan to overtake flight 93 from the hijackers. as much of the story is about his life, it's about his mother, who has carried on her son's legacy of courage and tolerance. >> it was overwhelming. i have a feeling it's going to hit me like that every time. it's so very close to home. >> reporter: it's a special moment for alice. her son's life shared on the big screen. >> it means a great deal to me, a lot, an awful lot to be able to share this wonderful experience with people that i

love here in mark's hometown. >> reporter: now, this was the first time alice saw the entire documentary. she saw a rough cut before but never the final film. george kiriyama, nbc bay area news. >> thank you, george. new at 11:00, a big surprise when daddy comes home early from a tour of duty. you can't beat this, can you? sergeant riley jones sees his 4-year-old daughter, wife and son. he told his wife he would be home this weekend but showed up today at her work. this is in saratoga. the school's director helps jones coordinate the big surprise. she told his wife stephanie he had to work late. >> they completely surprised me. i was actually going outside.

>> i'm ecstatic. there's really not too many words i can use to describe it. just pure joy. >> the couple has a 4-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son. jones is home after a 10-month deployment in afghanistan. >> happy family. some of the richest men in the world work for google. >> also the owners of a company based in moffitt field, and now nasa admits they gave the company a price break when it sold millions in jet fuel to that company. >> reporter: in this letter to a senator on capitol hill in washington, d.c., nasa officials admit what we first up covered. last september, we examined self-years of fuel records

between nasa and h211. we found google's principals were getting a break, as much as a $5.3 million break, buying jet foul at less than market prices. we found the company purchased jet fuel from nasa for prices as low as $2.37 a gallon, when it cost as much as $8.50 a gallon at local airports. last december, nasa's inspector general found "a misunderstanding led to the discounted fuel rates for private jets with no nasa related mission," saving the company as much as $5.3 million through taxpayer supported fuel. in a letter received by senator charles grassley, nasa said in light of the concerns expressed with those agreements, nasa reviewed its pricing approach and is charging a market rate for aviation fuel. senator grassley, a top critic on capitol hill of this

arrangement, said it's good new that is nasa heeded my calls and scrutiny from the media, and acknowledged its fuel pricing was wrong. like all agencies, nasa is responsible for getting the most bang for the buck. they maintain they were only buying fuel available to the company and says the company paid full retail for the hangar space there. nor his part, senator grassley wants nasa to give back the millions that taxpayers subsidiz subsidized. but nasa says that will not be possible. steven stock, nbc bay area news. an update to that story he broke more than a year ago. if you have a tip for our investigative unit, give us a call or send us an e-mail directly. maybe you saw the bay bridge

light show went dark earlier tonight. it was part of a celebration, though, to mark the first anniversary of those lights. giving you a live look at the bridge. a few hours ago when the light show first came back on, it was synchronized to a 20-minute musical sound track. they're hoping to raise $12 million in donations to secure permits to let the light show run until 2026. >> we enjoy watching it. rob mayeda joins us now with the weekend forecast. we're almost close to the wmd, right? >> just about there. we'll see a change to the warmer for most of the bay area starting tomorrow heading into the weekend. right now you can see the bay bridge lights quite nicely. tomorrow morning, patchy fog, 48 degrees in the north bay and right now the winds starting to back off a little bit. it was breezy this evening. winds generally out of the northwest and in the inland

valleys, might see some of that patchy fog. tomorrow morgue, visibility has dropped close to a mile in napa. so that's one of the things we'll be watching. tune in tomorrow morning to watch the visibilities very closely as they drop off, especially on the coast or your highway 17 commute heading into the south bay. likely you will see some of the low clouds before we see mostly sunny skies. here's the break for friday. more clouds offshore that will have an impact on the second half of the weekend. for tomorrow morning, fog to start and some of the high clouds going by for the afternoon. nice day as you go hour by hour into friday night. mainly clear skies. so the first chance foreseeing more rain in the forecast is going to come in during sunday afternoon. you can see it right there, around 2:00, approaching sonoma county. sunday night and monday morning, starting to see the rain spill perhaps briefly over the bay area and snow heading up towards the sierra for monday morning. the system not dropping a whole lot of rain.

the bull's-eye for precipitation will be in the north bay and less than a quarter inch for areas south of san francisco. once this system clears out, what we'll see will be the rain shutting down on monday. then high pressure is going to build back in and it's going to stick around for a while. tuesday, wednesday into next week, talking about a dry pattern and temperatures climbing into the low to mid 70s as we head into the middle part of next week and likely through the end of next week. so some of the changes you're seeing in the forecast tomorrow, heading into saturday, warmer temperatures, one chance of rain heading into sunday evening and monday. after that, highs soaring to spring-like levels in the forecast once we get out of the weekend. so there is your next chance of rain, coming mainly for the north bay late in the day on sunday. so tomorrow, highs climbing into the low 70s, maybe closer to the mid 70s.

san francisco, mid to upper 60s. north bay, highs in the seth around napa, oakland, about 67 degrees. so as we start to see these changes here, your forecast there, the toyota tahoe ski report, sunday, more clouds and we should see more snow in the high country sunday night into monday. and in the three-day forecast, things cooling off. our own three-day forecast is going to keep the south bay warm through sunday. so three days, should see 70s. it's the north bay sunday afternoon with the best chance of rain, temperatures dropping to the mid 60s. hanging on to the 70s through the weekend. >> thanks, rob. just ahead, we'll show you what's being called the cookie shot. >> it's a new culinary creation. and we have jimmy, too.

>> liam neeson is here. it's a great show. we're on next.

all sorts of drama surrounding big coin. who created bit coin? the currency has grown into a multibillion dollar global phenomena. and "newsweek" released a story claiming the creator is 64-year-old dorian nakamato. but he denies he has anything to do with the currency. he said he never even heard of bit coin until three weeks ago. he acknowledged many of the details in the article are correct about him, but he disputes that he's the man behind bit coin. the google barge has a new home tonight. it had been docked at treasure island. in fact, it had been there for months. today, it traveled to the port

of stockton. the company says all the attention the barge got prompted them to move it to stockton. they plan on keeping the barge there for at least six months. it's going to be turned into a floating technology center but it's not giving lot of details of what that means. up next, they're calling it the best sharks game of the season.

i was nudging jessica throughout the evening, telling her to watch this game. >> it was more like screaming. >> it would have been worth it. >> i know. >> sharks and penguins on the ice, two of the best in the nhl. as far as regular season action goes, the third period tonight, one for the ages. polina edmonds with the puck drop. straight to the third period. game tied at 2-2. penguins on the power play. this makes it 3-2, pittsburgh.

just over a minute later, to the corner and in front of the net. his 16th of the season. that ties it at 3-3. late in the period, from just inside the blue line, shark goes up 4-3. they add an empty netter for the awe 3 win. >> i think you might have made the term knuckle puck popular again. tell us about the goal. >> it was just rolling the whole way, so just shoot and i've had some weird ones this year and it went back into the net. first round of the wcc tourney. jalen richard in the passing lane. and how about the finish. broncos up eight and in control. at the offensive end, nate draining the corner three ball here. santa clara up 12, they advance with the victory. spring training baseball. giants facing the reds.

tim hudson striking out chris heisey. he gave up just two hits in three innings with two ks. jeremy affeldt making his spring debut. he forced three groundouts in his appearance today. bottom of the fifth now, pablo sandoval at the wish and he gets a fish. the panda gets all of that one. first long ball of the spring. g-men win 3-2. earlier tim lincecum trading his kameron loe. lincecum in the number 73, not looking too bad. low on the other hand has the clubhouse cracking up. raj and jessica, those are tight whites. >> no comment. >> tighty whiteys in other parts of the country. >> we'll be right back. ♪ it takes two to make a thing go right ♪

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okay, who can resist a glass of milk and a few cookies? but what ant a cookie that is the glass? behold, the cookie milk shot. the make it, he molds cookie dough into the shape of a shot glass which he fills with milk.

>> that looks great. >> i would have to have four of them. >> before we leave you, we're looking sunny tomorrow. >> patchy fog for the morning, but afternoon temperatures climbing into the low 70s tomorrow and next chance of rain on sunday. more 70s as we get into next week. >> thanks for joining us tonight. have a great day tomorrow. >> bye-bye. >> steve: from studio 6b in rockefeller center in the heart of new york city, it's "the tonight show starring jimmy fallon." please join jimmy and his guests -- liam neeson. lindsay lohan. musical guest, bad things.